


Echo of a Hero

by PaperPuffin



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Afterlife, Bittersweet, Hopeful Ending, Kinda, M/M, No Beta We Die Like Nyx, Not A Fix-It, Seriously Nyx is still dead, Talking To Dead People
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:15:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29386167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaperPuffin/pseuds/PaperPuffin
Summary: The souls of those who wore the Ring of the Lucii and used its power found themselves bound to the ring still after death. They did not pass on to the Beyond, but instead stayed held in the Crystal's fragment of the afterlife. For millennia, this had only been the Kings and Queens of Lucis. Nyx Ulric had a way of breaking tradition like that.“There you go, deep breaths, I got you,” the voice said as hands reached out to wrap around his. They were larger hands- the fingers were long like his own but thicker. The nails were cut short and were slightly scuffed. The heavily calloused fingertips were rough against Noctis’ skin. A thin line of a tattoo ran down one middle and one index finger. Noctis knew those hands.“Nyx?”“Ya, kitten, it’s me. You can look up,” Nyx encouraged, gently.Noctis’ consciousness still felt like it swirling around- still threatening to escape the hastily assembled bounds of his body- but he focused and commanded himself to look. The nebulous void of the Beyond swam for a moment, like trying to look through a window when it was pouring rain, and then everything snapped into place around him.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Nyx Ulric
Kudos: 17
Collections: FFXV Rare Pairs Week 2021





	Echo of a Hero

**Author's Note:**

> FFXV RPW '21 Day 6: Ghost Story & 'Please don't go'

“Hey there, night light,” a voice said from behind Noctis. 

Well, ‘behind’ him was a loose concept at the moment. Noctis was floating in the pocket of the Beyond that Bahamut kept in the Crystal. Even floating wasn’t really the right description. Noctis _was_ the space in the Crystal. His sense stretched in all directions immeasurably, filling every space between every atom. And yet, if he traced the echoes back through the void, careening off the resonant essences of long dead ancestors and the fingerprints of Bahamut’s meddling, Noctis could pull that fathomless consciousness back into a spec of _something_ that he was pretty sure was _him_. Or it was at least his soul. 

Nausea rolled through a stomach he didn’t even have anymore as he tried to turn and face the voice. 

“Easy now- it takes a bit of getting used to,” the voice said. Something reached out for him and suddenly Noctis' senses filled with the sound of thunder, the smell of spices, the color of deep purple, and a warmth so gentle that it made Noctis want to cry. 

No, he _was_ crying. Noctis wiped at his eyes, before staring down at his own hands in astonishment. Since when did he have hands again? Suddenly, he wasn’t just the void anymore. 

“There you go, deep breaths, I got you,” the voice said as hands reached out to wrap around his. They were larger hands- the fingers were long like his own but thicker. The nails were cut short and were slightly scuffed. The heavily calloused fingertips were rough against Noctis’ skin. A thin line of a tattoo ran down one middle and one index finger. Noctis knew those hands. 

“Nyx?” 

“Ya, kitten, it’s me. You can look up,” Nyx encouraged, gently. 

Noctis’ consciousness still felt like it swirling around- still threatening to escape the hastily assembled bounds of his body- but he focused and commanded himself to look. The nebulous void of the Beyond swam for a moment, like trying to look through a window when it was pouring rain, and then everything snapped into place around him. 

The colorful void still surrounded Noctis, endlessly and in nearly every direction, but he stood on some sort of semi transparent floor that faded out around their feet. Oh, he had feet again. Blinking through the headache (that he supposed came with having a head again), Noctis pulled his gaze up from their feet. He looked up over the familiar (and insufferably frustrating when trying to remove in a hurry) knee high leather boots, over the leather sheath hanging empty off the left leg, over the rows of buttons on the long coat, and over the line of the tattoo that he had traced so many times with his lips and fingertips till he met Nyx’s eyes. 

Those eyes were the same blue as ever. The same slight smirk that Nyx so often wore played at the corner of his lips, though it was tinged now with something sad. The same beads hung in the carefully plated hair and Noctis reached out his hand to tangle his fingers in the braids. His breath hitched in his chest as the familiar beads clacked against his knuckles. It was a comforting rhythm. 

“Nyx? How are you here? Oh gods, you’re here! You’re dead, aren’t you? I mean- I knew you might be but- I kept trying to get a hold of you. I thought maybe you just- I guess I knew that likely you were, but I hoped- fuck, how?” Noctis asked, tears choking off his words. 

“Hey, it’s alright Noct, come on my night light, it’s alright,” Nyx murmured, pulling Noctis into a tight hug. Noctis clung desperately to Nyx’s coat with his other hand as he sobbed. Nyx kept up soft nothings in Galahdian, rubbing circles on his lovers’ back. Noctis had always found it far too easy to fall apart in Nyx’s arms, possibly because the other was always so good at putting him back together. 

Finally, Noctis managed to gather himself enough to ask, “But you are, aren’t you? You’re dead?” 

“Ya, kitten, I’m pretty sure I’m dead,” Nyx admitted, softly. 

“But how are you here? You should be in the true Beyond. It’s- are you trapped here because of me?” 

“Don’t think so?” Nyx said, brows scrunching together at that. “They, ah, don’t really like to talk to me here, most of them, but I’m pretty sure I’m here because of the deal I made with them.” 

“... what deal, Nyx? Why did you make a deal with the Lucii?” Nocts asked, leaning back in the hold so he could glare up at the other. The glare only deepened when Nyx started to laugh. 

“Sorry kitten, sorry. You’re just- thunder and lightning Noct you’re just so… you,” Nyx said, leaning in to kiss Noctis’ nose, which scrunched up predictably. “Ramuh I missed you. Never lose those things that make you you.” 

“The deal Nyx- what did you do?” 

“I had to, kitten! Insomnia was falling and people were dying and I had to…” 

“Had to go play Hero,” Noctis said softly, tenderly. He stood up on his toes to rest their foreheads together, before pressing Nyx into a soft kiss. Even here Nyx’s lips still felt the same- just a little rough, constantly on the verge of cracking from being out in the elements, and ever so warm. They still tasted faintly of spice. “Tell me?” 

“I think I can do one better here. I think I can show you? Might be a rough ride though, I’m still getting a hang of this whole being dead thing.” 

Noctis chuckled wetly and pulled back, hand sliding down Nyx’s arm till he could twine their fingers together. Nyx squeezed the hand back. “Okay Hero, show me.” 

Around them, the bright nebula of the void blurred out and slowly Insomnia formed around them- on fire and in the middle of it’s fall. Noctis kept his hand tight around Nyx’s as they traveled through the memory of the end of their home. Nyx didn’t talk- he tried to a few times, but words always seemed to fail him as they stood together and watched the moments of the event unfold around them. 

They watched Luche burn, watched Drautos pummel Nyx, watched Nyx before the Kings and Queens, begging for them to do something. Noctis watched his father plead in Nyx’s defense. And then they watched Nyx struggle and fight and win, and then burn from the inside out. 

Noctis cradled Nyx’s head and turned him away from the scene as Nyx’s body shook with tremors of remembered pain. Noctis didn’t look away for a second. He watched the final moments as Nyx Ulric, Hero of the Kingsglaive, proud son of Galahd burned to ash from the same power that ran through his lovers’ veins. Noctis gripped his fingers tight into Nyx’s jacket and only when the last breath shuttered to a stop did Noctis close his eyes. 

The image of Nyx dying was seared into Noctis’ brain. Desperately, he tried to think of anything else. Focusing in on his own memories, Noctis found the very day that he was looking for. The summer had just been starting to fade into the crisp chill of autumn. They had gone out for curry and to catch some awful action movie that they spent the whole walk home making fun of. Not even thinking of it, their feet had led them back to Nyx's place. It was small and cramped but in the evening sun the whole room lit up warm with a golden glow. 

In the pocket of the Beyond, Noctis opened his eyes to find them there in that room. It was just as he remembered it. Motes of dust hung in the air. Nyx’s Glaive jacket was draped over the chair at the desk. The flower that Noctis had shyly given him when they first started dating had been dried and stuck to the cork board. 

Gently, Noctis guided Nyx backwards to sit on the bed, the cheap springs giving their typical groan in protest. Nyx’s eyes flew open, looking up at Noctis with an expression so lost that it made Noctis’ heart break. Gently, Noctis leaned down to kiss Nyx. 

Noctis scraped his teeth lightly over the chapped lips then pressed another kiss at the corner of the mouth and then another. He traced kisses and nips of careful teeth along the scruffy jaw line all the way to the hollow under the ear, and then down along the thin line of the tattoo. Nyx slowly relaxed under the touch, coming back to himself- coming back to Noctis. 

“There’s my Nyx,” Noctis murmured against the other’s skin before pulling back slightly. He smiled down at Nyx, tracing cheekbones with his thumbs, and was relieved to see Nyx smiling back. 

Desperately, Nyx tugged Noctis back down into another kiss and the hesitant coaxing of before turned into hurried hands working to get under clothing and against skin- both of them desperate to be able to feel each other and know that, even in all of this, they were still both there. In this moment, they could be together still, even if _only_ for a moment. 

* * *

The light hung the same in the room as it had when they first tumbled into bed. It hadn’t moved an inch despite the hours that had passed. Noctis traced the spot where the light spilled perfectly against the tattoo on Nyx’s chest that the other had gotten to mark Noctis’ place in his life. This moment was wonderful and perfect and... entirely fake. 

As if knowing what Noctis was thinking, Nyx said, “We can’t stay here forever, kitten.” 

“We could though- we’re both dead here. We literally have forever,” Noctis argued half-heartedly. 

“I do. You’ve got some work left to do. And when you’re all done- when you’ve learned everything from the Lucii and the gods and you’ve kicked some ass… well, then we can have forever,” Nyx said, sitting up. 

“Please, don’t go,” Noctis pleaded, reaching out to wrap an arm around Nyx’s waist, burrowing his face into the line of the hip. 

“Not going anywhere, kitten. I’m with you always now, ya? You got a piece of my soul right here now,” Nyx said tapping Noctis’ temple. He moved his hand down and tapped against Noctis’ chest, where Noctis’ own, small tattoo marked the pale skin. “And you’ve had a piece here since I first fell in love with you. I’m not going anywhere. 

“But right now? Right now, you’re still needed. You’ve got to go off and be the light that the people need and you can only do that once you’re ready. I hate to say it because I know I am amazing in bed, but you’re not going to manage to do that here. We have to let this go, Noct. I know you know that too. Neither of us are very good at being selfish.” 

Noctis let out a huff of air and rolled onto his back, looking up at Nyx and the fond smile he wore. “I was selfish about you. I fought to keep you.” 

“I know. You’re so strong, Noct. That’s why I know that you can do this. You might be my night light, but for the world you can be a dawn.” 

“One more kiss?” 

“One more kiss, then you’re putting on some clothing so that you don’t shock the dead too badly, and you’re going to go learn to be more powerful than even the gods.” 

Noctis rolled his eyes, reached a hand up around Nyx’s neck, and pulled him down into one last kiss. Nyx’s lips still tasted of spice. 

**Author's Note:**

> As soon as I saw Ghost Story as a prompt, this idea got in my head and I needed to write it. I hope that you all enjoyed it!


End file.
